Visa Inc. and UnionPay International announced an agreement to enable cross-border money movement into Chinese Mainland through Visa Direct. Once fully rolled out, clients will be able to send cross-border remittances and business-to-consumer payouts to more than 95% of UnionPay International debit cardholders in Chinese Mainland, through a single connection. By connecting Visa Direct's global money movement network to UPI's MoneyExpress platform, Visa will provide a more seamless, secure, and transparent way for consumers and businesses worldwide to send money into Chinese Mainland, one of the world's largest remittance destinations.
This milestone showcases Visa's commitment to opening global corridors and extending reliable money movement capabilities to people and businesses worldwide. The connection will support a broad set of cross-border use cases, including creator and freelancer payouts, contractor disbursements, reimbursements, and family remittances. As platforms, marketplaces and employers operate without borders, these payments and payouts increasingly require the ability to reliably reach people using global scale and real-time delivery.
Visa Direct continues to scale as a foundational layer of the global economy - helping clients unlock new markets, improve liquidity, and deliver faster, more predictable payment experiences worldwide. The expanded Visa Direct connection to UnionPay International is expected to be available starting in the first half of 2026.
